Generational changeover, the third way is the shareholder family

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - "What do you want to be when you grow up?", a question that should no longer be taboo for those born into a family of entrepreneurs. But which, if handled well, can become a resource, both personal and for the Italian system. Between passing from father to son and selling, there is a third way for family businesses, including Italian ones. A third way that could become increasingly strategic with the advancing demographic change. This is the scenario outlined by Alessandro Minichilli, a Bocconi professor who has been following the world of family businesses for years.

A scenario that starts from experience. And from an awareness: 'taking the reins of the family business entails responsibility. Workers, often entire territories, but also the country system depend on the company. Sometimes there may not be the right successor in the family. Or, there may not be an entrepreneur but a talented future doctor. We must overcome the idea that when faced with a generational transition there are only two choices: leave the reins to someone or sell. Families can also be a resource in the economic system as shareholders'.

An awareness that also stems from the numbers - around 30% of family businesses successfully survive generational changes. And, often, the problem is a lack of strategy. Family businesses that decide to develop a Family Constitution, Minichilli notes, are one in two globally, but only 12% in European contexts. Yet, according to a survey of those who have done so, the benefits of working on family strategy are there and range from safeguarding the future of the business (93 %), to managing the increasing complexity of the family (82 %), to preserving family solidarity itself (81 %).

"An indispensable value of the European, as well as the Italian, system of business and family together is that of a solid value base," says Minichilli, "precisely for this reason, when planning the transition to the next generation, one must be clear in putting on the table if and only then what idea there is for the future of the company. In contexts such as these, values and objectives come even before rules, which also remain fundamental. If you build on a fundamental misunderstanding, taking it for granted that your children want or know how to carry on, when the time comes for the handover you risk failure. With the only solution being to close or sell'. A question, says Minichilli, 'that cannot be asked of a man or a woman in their thirties, but must be made clear from the outset. From the formative years, even well before university'. With the awareness that a no does not mean the end of the family business story, but can only mean a different path. The third way, in fact.

"Families are also great resources for the economy as shareholders. As responsible owners, breaking down the idea that those who work in the company are worth more than those who decide not to. Responsible ownership, governed by a Family Strategy that becomes a Family Costitution preserves the value of the family business by combining it with entrepreneurial and economic success', even better, in some cases, than succession at all costs. A scenario that could help overcome the demographic crisis even in Italian family business.